7 Secrets to Achieving Enlightenment

So you seek enlightenment, and you keep trying, but life seemingly remains a series of hurdles. You ask yourself: “when will end?” You buy a new self-help book, you try a new trendy therapy which claims to enhance your awareness and end your troubles. However, the big question remains: what is the purpose of it all? Has anything really changed?

Here are 7 secrets to enlightenment which you can help you grow and achieve enlightenment, which I humbly refer to as awareness, without a GURU!

Change is constant, so accept it! It’s part and parcel of being alive. Humans are emotional beings, we learn through emotional experiences, so embrace them. If you are not reacting – you’re not alive! Enlightenment does not mean a non-chaotic state of being. However, the manner and degree in which you relate and react emotionally will change as your understanding grows, bringing about greater harmony to your life.

You cannot control your life. You can only make it worse for yourself if you believe so! You wills struggle to adapt. Put yourself in the right mind-frame, or mind-set, to accept that change is part of growth and is necessary in order to evolve. Once you change your perspective and view any change as an opportunity to grow, to get rid of whatever is not working in your life; you will no longer fear changes, or fear “not being in control” of your life.

Beliefs attract experiences. If you believe life is a struggle, it will be. If you believe, struggles bring about an opportunity to pause, reflect, understand then act- this is what you will do. Register your feelings, and ask yourself, “what belief do I hold, or am I investing in, that supports this drama in my life?” and you will get your answer! Make a list of old and negative beliefs then chose to change them to positive statements. If you like, the new positive statements are what is referred to affirmations (more on that subject in a future article).

You have an innate desire to make positive changes. You react to struggles because there a need within you to understand why and how you are unknowingly creating them. The way you react to change develops your understanding which can make you a wiser person, an enlightened person. This process dictates your blueprint for change, or emotional evolution, and it is how consciousness evolves. The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1987) says: ‘Consciousness: state of being conscious; totality of a person’s thoughts and feelings. Through understanding, you will be able to detect patterns of outdated behaviour, and have the courage to change this non-productive loop.Understanding, (once you’re done throwing a tantrum) enables you to apply more easily what you have learnt about yourself and to put that newly acquired knowledge into action at every level of our daily living. Please remember that the ability to understand has little to do with intelligence. A simple person may understand and grasp life’s mystery more easily than one with a complex intelligent mind. Remember Forrest Gump? Simply, be aware that you are reacting to something, an issue or a belief, that needs to change within you.

Knowledge implies responsibility, making our lives the direct consequence of our actions.Not many people are willing to accept that they areaccountable for what they are creating in their lives. Taking responsibility is the first step to affecting positive changes in your life; and it is the corner-stone of self-growth or enlightenment! Remember, a high IQ is worthless if we lack the ability to apply knowledge in our lives.

Analysis is paralysis: Recognise what you feel, but do not analyse it. Analysis will hinder your understanding, it is the way that your intelligent mind preserves status quo and saves you from stepping into the unknown and making seemingly life-threatening changes. Instead of asking “ why did this happen to me”, try asking “what is this showing me?” then have the courage to stay true to yourself by acknowledging any ‘rut’ your life, and recognising that you can change it.Many people continue to hold beliefs which they know are negative because they are afraid of change and also because there is comfort in the ‘devil you know’. This is not bad karma, nor the fault of your parents, nor the position of the new moon last Wednesday, nor the fact that you walked under a ladder, or broke a mirror. If you really want to be a different person change your beliefs. That can be the hardest thing you will ever do.

Once you are emotionally secure within yourself, the need to emotionally react to change and control experiences diminishes. Accept that you are not the centre of the universe but rather an essential speck in it. Accept that the universe does not get personal, we do. It is your responsibility to modify outdated beliefs and replace them by practical understanding. To put it simply, if you do not like your movie, rewrite the script!

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Author, Columnist, Holistic Therapist & Personal Mentor helping my clients achieve the life they are meant to live since 1992. I am a published poet and play the piano. My friends and those who know me describe me as a “wise woman” and a "pathfinder". I am passionate about demystifying the abstract, writing, teaching, brand-management, podcasting, and love Turkish coffee!